


Siren's Serenade

by RelicIron



Category: GreedFall (Video Game)
Genre: Come to think of it i guess there's two dumb not-sneaky boys, Dramatic lighting, M/M, Male De Sardet (GreedFall), Mysterious Violin Music, One (1) Sneaky Boy Who's a Little Dumb and not so Sneaky, Very Bored Sailors, everyone is very polite
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-08
Updated: 2019-12-08
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21716530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RelicIron/pseuds/RelicIron
Summary: They’re about a week out to sea when Vasco first hears it.
Relationships: De Sardet/Vasco (GreedFall)
Comments: 6
Kudos: 65





	Siren's Serenade

They’re about a week out to sea when Vasco first hears it.

It’s dark and he’s at the helm, a skeleton crew minding the ship until the next shift takes their place. The sea is calm and there’s a respectable breeze filling the sails, pushing them ever further towards Teer Fradee. In these conditions, keeping them on course is hardly challenging, and he often lets his mind wander a bit.

So at first he thinks he imagines it, when a soft, mournful tune rises above the crash of waves on the hull. He blinks, curiosity pulling him from his thoughts and back to the present. When he casts his gaze over the deck, he finds that the seamless work of his crew has paused as heads turn this way and that trying to chase the sound.

Frowning in concentration, he focuses on the almost ethereal music and after a while he is able to recognize the drag of a bow on strings.

A violin, if he had to guess, likely played by one of their illustrious passengers.

Played well, he had to admit.

Vasco had been in enough taverns to tell when an instrument was in capable hands, and this player certainly seemed to be just that.

He shook himself, lovely as the music was, there was work to be done.

“Lively now.”

Some of the crew jumped as he prodded them back into action, but they obeyed all the same.And if the chatter that often accompanies their work was absent in favor of listening to the melody drifting up from the hold, that was their prerogative.

\---

As the weeks passed, the lone musician continued to unwittingly serenade them during the first watch of the night, and they quickly became a ripe subject for gossip.

The duty rosters began to change rapidly, as sailors traded favors to earn a spot on the first watch, and bets were placed about which of the nobles was the source of the music.

Last Vasco had heard, the older gentleman, Mr. de Courcillon, was the favorite pick.

He didn’t mind it, so long as his crew saw to their duties properly and didn’t encroach on the privacy of their passengers. A long voyage can test the patience of even the most experienced sailors, so puzzling over a harmless mystery like this was a decent enough way to ward off boredom.

However, when he happened to overhear Flavia trying to convince Jonas to sneak into the cargo hold to spy on the musician, he’d figured that this was beginning to get out of hand.

“I thought I made myself clear about respecting the Merchants’ privacy?”

Both sailors jumped as he stepped around a stack of crates.

“A-apologies, Captain,” Jonas stuttered, bowing his head in shame.

“I guess we let ourselves get carried away… it’s just… Lauro was talking’, said he ‘eard music comin’ from the aft cargo hold. He’s always ‘ad good ears, Lauro, so I wanted to see,” Flavia explained nervously, before looking up at him, “don’t go blaming Jonas, I was the one draggin’ ‘im into it.”

“Do others know?”

She blinked, “Well… yeah, Lauro was talkin’ about it at supper, whole crew probably ‘eard him, ‘s why I wanted to get down there first.”

Vasco sighed.

Wonderful.

“Then it seems I’ll have to go warn our musician that he’s been found out.”

He strode away, intent on speaking to his first mate about trading watches.

He’d only gone a few steps before throwing over his shoulder, “Extra kitchen duty, Flavia.”

Her groan brought a smirk to his lips as it followed him out onto the deck.

\---

Night fell, and Vasco lurked in the shadows of the hold, a silent sentinel making sure none of his wayward crew made for the aft hatch. Word must have gotten around that he’d be watching, because the only figure he saw sported a long coat, and he knew none of his crew had anything like that.

A few minutes later, the music began, and Vasco took it as his queue to follow the man down into the cargo hold.

He stepped carefully, moving from shadow to shadow amongst the crates as he made his way towards the starboard side, near the back.

There he found a small lanturn, sputtering orange light over De Sardet and the polished violin beneath his chin. His eyes were closed, as his fingers fluttered over the instrument’s neck, bow drawing a melancholy song from its strings.

He seemed so much more… alive, than the dour faced nobleman Vasco had seen, the lantern’s glow burning away the shadows beneath his eyes and adding a healthy warmth to his normally pallid face.

Like this, lit in amber with his brows drawn and his lips parted in concentration, he stole the breath from Vasco’s lungs.

He very nearly stumbled, only catching himself at the last moment, but it was enough for De Sardet to notice.

His eyes opened and he startled badly, the delicate melody cutting off in a painful screech as the bow jumped across the strings. He carefully put the violin down before trying to collect himself.

“Apologies, your Excellency,” Vasco ventured, “I didn’t mean to frighten you.”

He was prepared for an angry tirade, it was the reason he’d asked his crew to leave them be. This group was far from the first highborns he’d had to transport and he’d long since learned how touchy they could be.

But De Sardet seemed only mildly perturbed, flapping the hand still holding the bow.

“No need for apologies, Captain. I probably should have been more aware of my surroundings.”

He seemed to pause, frowning a bit.

“I do hope I’m not disturbing anyone… is that why you’re here?”

There was no accusation in his voice, only honest worry.

Vasco couldn’t help but chuckle.

“No, no, in fact the crew is rather enamored with your playing.”

At the blank look on his face, Vasco smirked, “We can hear you up on the deck.”

De Sardet groaned and buried his face in his unoccupied hand. It may have been a trick of the light, but Vasco was certain he could see his ears turning red.

“If it’s any consolation, you play very well, and the crew have been enjoying your music.”

Vasco paused.

“Of course, that’s why I’m here,” De Sardet slid his hand down so he could see him, but didn’t uncover his face, “my men have taken up bets as to who the mystery musician is, and it seemed as though they were about to corner you. As you’d taken up playing in the hold, I assumed you weren’t interested in an audience-”

“-and you thought to warn me,” De Sardet sighed, “Thank you, Captain.”

He let his hand fall away and smiled tiredly.

“I don’t mind an audience, but these songs are hardly suited to it.”

Moving back to lean heavily against the crates, De Sardet massaged his brow, and Vasco wasn’t sure if it was the moonlight filtering in from the porthole above them, but the warm light seemed to leech out of him and he suddenly looked fragile. Pale skin pulled taught over the bones of his wrists and the shadows beneath his eyes taking on a bruised quality.

“My mother was very ill when we left Serene, I… expect the malichor has caught up with her by now.”

The sad tone of the music suddenly made painful sense.

De Sardet was in mourning.

And Vasco was incredibly relieved that he’d gotten to him first, before his fool crew had badgered a man grieving his mother.

“You have my condolences, De Sardet. I’ll make sure you are not disturbed further.”

He bowed his head respectfully and turned to leave.

“Captain...”

Vasco turned to see De Sardet watching him warily.

“If… I might want to play for an audience, where should I go?”

Surprised but pleased, Vasco smiled, “I expect they might like a change of pace from Lauro’s mandolin in the crew mess. If there’s playing, it’s usually just after supper.”

De Sardet returned the smile, this time with a little more vigor.

“Then I will keep that in mind, you have my thanks, Captain.”

“Anytime, De Sardet.”

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I just wanted a reason to write about Vasco finding out that De Sardet was good at playing the violin, and then I realized I could pair it with the first time Vasco looked at him and went "Damn...", so two birds, one stone basically.
> 
> I still feel like it was a hard turn between my mom died, and can I play for your crew but this thing has already been sitting around for a couple months and if I didn't post it now it just wasn't going to happen at all.


End file.
